Method of and device for detecting and visually representing an impact event

ABSTRACT

An electronic device for visually representing an impact event is provided. The electronic device includes an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer for measuring its acceleration, angular rotation, and magnetic field intensity relative to its motion. Using any suitable filter, a normalization process is used to standardize readings from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer. The electronic device also includes impact location and impact severity determination procedures executable by its processor from its memory module to provide an impact indicator or a visual representation of the impact which may indicate possible damage, shock or fracture incurred on the device. The impact indicator serves as a preview of impacts by displaying gradients of green, yellow and red depicted in increasing severity, i.e., from “no impact” event to “severe impact” event.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of aPhilippines patent application filed on Jun. 24, 2016 in the PhilippinesIntellectual Property Office and assigned Serial number 1-2016-000237,the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an impact event detection method anddevice. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to althoughnot exclusively, the impact event detection method and device arearranged to visually represent an impact event on both accessible andinaccessible parts in the framework of portable electronic devices suchas handheld mobile phones, tablet computers, cameras, multimediaplayers, and the like.

BACKGROUND

Electronic devices, especially the handheld or portable type such asmobile phones, tablet computers, cameras, multimedia players, and thelike, are often damaged when they fall or hit hard surfaces. Catching ahandheld mobile phone in a flight, for example, usually requiresendogenous attention. In such a case, unavoidable momentary lapses inattention can lead to an accidentally dropped mobile phone hitting theground or other peripheral structures such as walls, tables, chairs, andfurniture. Parts malfunctioning, operating system failure, faultyelectrical connection and, in severe cases, memory corruption are someof the consequences that a dropped mobile phone may suffer.

When certain forms of damage such as dents and scratches occur on anexternally accessible part of the mobile phone, one may be able todetect the location and, at times, even severity of the damage byconducting a simple visual inspection. Results of this visual inspectionmay be used by device manufacturer service centers as diagnosticinformation, or by device manufacturer research and development units asinput for developing product designs and/or manufacturing processeswhich minimize damage to electronic devices when they are subjected toimpact conditions. However, not every part of an electronic device isexternally accessible. Some internal parts of an electronic device arenot removable because they are either embedded in the device itself, orlaminated, or tempered. Hence, they are not readily accessible forvisual inspection by a human inspector. In this regard, it is desirableto detect an impact event on both accessible and inaccessible parts inthe framework of electronic devices.

United States Patent Publication No. 20160054354 published on Feb. 25,2016 to Invensense, Inc. (USA) describes a drop detection system forreliably detecting when an electronic device has been dropped. The dropdetection system includes at least one module that is operable to, atleast: (i) perform fall detection; (ii) perform impact detection; (iii)perform no-motion detection; and (iv) perform device drop detection,based at least in part on the fall detection, the impact detection, andthe no-motion detection, wherein the module is operable to perform saiddetection through the use of sensor signals from various sensors whichmay be attached to internal parts of the device. The sensors may includeany one or more of a gyroscope, a compass, a magnetometer, anaccelerometer, a microphone, a pressure sensor, a proximity sensor, amoisture sensor, a temperature sensor, a biometric sensor, and anambient light sensor.

A method associated with the cited prior drop detection system comprisesthe step of storing information of a detected drop (e.g., time and/ordate information, timer/counter values, sensor data, thresholdcomparison results, impact direction and/or magnitude, fall detectionparameters, impact detection parameters, no-motion detection parameters,etc.) in a memory. Such a memory may be a memory of the device (e.g.,microprocessor (MPU) or MPU internal and/or external memory). The methodfurther comprises communicating such information to a networked device(e.g., a network server). Information of a detected drop may be storedin a non-volatile memory for later reading and/or communicated to anetwork server prior to the drop rendering the device inoperable. Insuch a scenario, time/date information of the drop may be stored and/orcommunicated for later comparison to a time/date at which a devicebecame inoperable.

While the information associated with a detected drop according to theimplementations of the cited prior drop detection system and associatedmethod can be used to aid visual inspection processes at devicemanufacturer service centers or at device manufacturer research anddevelopment units in detecting an impact event on both accessible andinaccessible parts in the framework of electronic devices, the sameinformation have to undergo a mentally tortuous and tedious process ofevaluation and interpretation. Even where this time-consuming andlaborious process has been dealt with, special tools such as pryingtools and magnifiers may be further required to determine the locationof the impact on the device and assess the severity of the impact andany potential damage that may arise due to the impact.

There is therefore an outstanding need for method and device arranged tovisually represent a monitored impact event such that a concreteevidence of impact which may be indicative of a possible damaged area inand on the device, and detection of such evidence are readily providedwithout requiring an unnecessary time-consuming and laborious evaluationand/or interpretation process and as well as special inspection tools.

The above information is presented as background information only toassist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determinationhas been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the abovemight be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the present disclosure are to address at least theabove-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at leastthe advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the presentdisclosure is to provide method of and device for detecting and visuallyrepresenting an impact event.

In accordance with aspect of the disclosure, an electronic device fordetecting and visually representing an impact event which may bemonitored is provided. The electronic device includes, (i) a dataprocessor, (ii) a motion sensor system integrated into the device andcommunicatively coupled to the processor, (iii) a display driver moduleoperatively coupled to the processor, and (iv) a memory module incommunication with each of the processor and the motion sensor system.The motion sensor system may include accelerometer sensor for sensingand outputting acceleration signals representative of the motion of thedevice, a gyroscope sensor for sensing and outputting rotation signalsrepresentative of a rotational motion of the device, and a magnetometerfor sensing and outputting magnetic field signals representative of amagnetic field of the earth serving as a reference point for therotation signals outputted by the gyroscope sensor.

The acceleration, rotation, and magnetic field signals corresponding tovarious motions of the device constitute impact parameter informationwhich are generally used by a processor-executed impact locationdetermination procedure from the memory module to determine an impactvector information and detect whether an impact has occurred based atleast in part on a comparison of the determined impact vectorinformation with a threshold impact vector information.

If the impact has occurred, an orientation of the device based on theimpact parameter information is determined, and an approximated locationof the impact on the device based on the orientation of the device isconsequently determined using the impact location determinationprocedure. The display driver module is caused by the processor todisplay on a display of the device an impact indicator corresponding tothe approximated location of the impact. Severity of the impact is alsodetermined using a processor-executed impact severity determinationprocedure from the memory module by generating a quantitative metricrelated to the impact which occurred on the approximated location of theimpact on the device, and causing the display driver module tomanipulate attributes of the impact indicator based on the generatedquantitative metric which may be a count of a number of times that theimpact has occurred on the approximated location.

The impact indicator may be a light pattern such as a colored lightpattern projected by a light source operatively coupled to the displaydriver module. The light source may be one or both of a set of lightemitting elements and a set of light sensitive elements. Preferably, thecolored light pattern projected by any one of the light emittingelements and light sensitive elements is adapted to change in color inresponse to the quantitative metric generated by the impact severitydetermination procedure executing on the processor from the memorymodule, The colored light pattern may include colors representative ofgradients of green, yellow and red depicted in increasing severity. Forexample, the red color may represent a “severe impact” event, the yellowcolor may represent a “moderate impact” event, and the green color mayrepresent a “no impact” event. The green to red gradient is preferablyused to represent low to high degree or severity of impact, i.e., from“no impact” event to “severe impact” event, on various approximatedlocations of impact on the device. In essence, the impact indicatorserves as a preview of impacts.

The provision of displaying the impact indicator on the display of thedevice, which is indicative of impact location and/or impact severity,readily provides a visual representation of a monitored impact eventbased on the impact parameter information from the motion sensor systemin such a way that there is a concrete evidence of impact and suchevidence can be detected without requiring an unnecessary time-consumingand laborious evaluation and/or interpretation process and as well asspecial inspection tools like prying tools, magnifiers, and the like.

In essence, the disclosure is directed to the generation and display onthe display of the device of the impact indicator which also serves asan automated diagram following a color scheme representing thequantitative metric or the number of times that the impact has occurredon the device when it is dropped or hit. This thereby indicates portionsof the device that may have been damaged, fractured or underwent shockdue to one or more impact events. With one preferred framework utilizingthe accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer of the motion sensorsystem built-in with, or integrated into, the device and comprising thecomputer-executable decision-making procedures that determine the impactlocation and as well as the impact severity, the visual representationor translation of the impact parameter information is presented on thedisplay of the device for an easier and faster understanding of the sameinformation.

For device manufacturer service centers, the disclosure can serve as adiagnostic tool to determine malfunctioned device parts. For devicemanufacturer research and development units, the disclosure can serve asan input in generating concrete evidence of impact which may be utilizedfor the purpose of assisting them in making products with moredurability and protection against any potential damage arising fromvarious impact events on portable and handheld electronic devices suchas mobile phones.

For a better understanding of the disclosure and to show how the samemay be performed, preferred various embodiments thereof will now bedescribed, by way of non-limiting examples only, with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, anelectronic device for representing an impact event is provided. Theelectronic device includes at least one processor, at least one sensorcommunicatively coupled to the at least one processor, and a displayoperatively coupled to the at least one processor. The at least onesensor is configured to measure at least one physical valuecorresponding to a movement of the electronic device. The at least oneprocessor is configured to, in response to detecting an impact occurredon the electronic device, determine at least one of a location of theimpact on the electronic device or a degree of the impact, based on theat least one physical value. And the display is configured to displaythe at least one of the location of the impact or the degree of theimpact.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a methodfor representing an impact event on an electronic device is provided.The method includes measuring at least one physical value correspondingto a movement of the electronic device, using at least one sensor, inresponse to detecting an impact occurred on the electronic device,determining at least one of a location of the impact on the electronicdevice or a degree of the impact, based on the at least one physicalvalue, and displaying the at least one of the location of the impact orthe degree of the impact.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, anon-transitory computer-readable medium comprises computer executableinstructions that when executed by a processor of an electronic devicecause the processor to effectuate is provided. The method includesmeasuring at least one physical value corresponding to a movement of theelectronic device, using at least one sensor, in response to detectingan impact occurred on the electronic device, determining at least one ofa location of the impact on the electronic device or a degree of theimpact, based on the at least one physical value, and displaying the atleast one of the location of the impact or the degree of the impact.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses various embodiments of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an illustrative implementation of a devicefor detecting and visually representing an impact event according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an illustrative implementation of a motionsensor system of the device of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an illustrative method of detecting andvisually representing an impact event according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a continuation of the method of FIG. 3according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a display of the device of FIG. 1 accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a computer-implemented process according toan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C are pictorial diagrams showing a multi-axis motionof the device of FIG. 1 according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are graphical diagrams of sample accelerometer data andsample resultant data according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 9 is a graphical diagram of sample sensor fusion data andaccelerometer data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 10A and 10B are pictorial diagrams showing a representative motionof the device of FIG. 1 in accordance with the graphical diagram of FIG.9 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a graphical diagram of another sample sensor fusion data andaccelerometer data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 12A and 12B are pictorial diagrams showing another representativemotion of the device of FIG. 1 in accordance with the graphical diagramof FIG. 11 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a graphical diagram of yet another sample sensor fusion dataand accelerometer data according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 14A and 14B are pictorial diagrams showing yet anotherrepresentative motion of the device of FIG. 1 in accordance with thegraphical diagram of FIG. 13 according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a pictorial diagram of a display of the device of FIG. 1showing a preferred user interface made according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIGS. 16A, 16B, 16C, and 16D are pictorial diagrams of a display of thedevice of FIG. 1 showing another preferred user interfaces madeaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of a method for representing an impact eventon an electronic device according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbersare used to depict the same or similar elements, features, andstructures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of variousembodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the various embodiments describedherein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of thepresent disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functionsand constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the presentdisclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of various embodiments of the presentdisclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for thepurpose of limiting the present disclosure as defined by the appendedclaims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes referenceto one or more of such surfaces.

Various arrangements such as method and electronic device, and theirassociated computer-implemented and/or computer-enabled methods-steps orprocesses and various embodiments are disclosed for detecting andvisually representing an impact event which may be monitored inaccordance with the principles and concepts of the present disclosure.These arrangements, their embodiments, their features and other possibleaspects of the present disclosure are described in further and greaterdetail below and are accompanied with non-limiting illustrations throughappropriate diagrams.

The arrangements of the present disclosure, including variouscomputer-implemented, computer-based, computer-assisted, and/orcomputer-designed aspects, methods, processes, and configurations, maybe implemented on a variety of electronic computing devices and systems,portable or stationary, including electronic client devices and/orserver computers, wherein these computing devices include theappropriate processing mechanisms and computer-readable media forstoring, fetching, executing, and interpreting computer-readableinstructions, such as programming instructions, codes, signals, and/orthe like.

Further, various embodiments of the present disclosure may heimplemented on, or in conjunction with, existing controllers in controlsystems of computers or computing devices which are well-known in theart. All the ensuing disclosures and accompanying illustrations of thepreferred embodiments of the present disclosure are merelyrepresentative for the purpose of sufficiently describing the manner bywhich the present disclosure may be carried out into practice in variousways other than the ones outlined and/or exemplified with great detailsin the ensuing description.

It is to be understood and appreciated by a person skilled in the art orhaving ordinary skills in the art, however, that various embodimentsused to describe how to make and use the present disclosure may beembodied in many alternative forms and should not be construed aslimiting the scope of the appended claims in any manner, absent expressrecitation of those features in the appended claims. All the diagramsand illustrations accompanying the ensuing description should also notbe construed as limiting the scope of the appended claims in any manner.

It is also to be understood and appreciated that the use of ordinalterms like “first,” “second,” and “third” is used herein to distinguishone element, feature, component, calculation or process step to anotherand should not also be construed as limiting the scope of the appendedclaims, and that these and such other ordinal terms that may appear inthe ensuing description are not indicative of any particular order ofelements, features, calculations, components or process steps to whichthey are attached. For example, a first element could be termed a secondelement or a third element. Similarly, a second element or a thirdelement could be termed a first element. All these do not depart fromthe scope of the herein disclosure and its accompanying claims.

Unless the context clearly and explicitly indicates otherwise, it is tobe understood that like reference numerals refer to like elementsthroughout the ensuing description of the figures and/or drawings, thatthe linking term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one ormore of the associated listed items, and that some varying terms of thesame meaning and objective may be interchangeably used.

Unless defined differently, all terms used in the present disclosure,including technical or scientific terms, have meanings that areunderstood generally by a person having ordinary skill in the art.Ordinary terms that may be defined in a dictionary should be understoodto have the meaning consistent with their context, and unless clearlydefined in the present disclosure, should not be interpreted to beexcessively idealistic or formalistic.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an illustrative implementation ofa device for detecting and visually representing an impact eventaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In one embodiment, as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1, the presentdisclosure is arranged to provide an electronic device, which isgenerally designated by reference numeral 100 throughout the ensuingdetailed description, for detecting and visually representing an impactevent. The device 100 may include at least one data processor 102, amotion sensor system 104, a display driver module 106, a memory module108, a display 110, a sensor input processing module 112, and a sensoroutput processing module 114.

It is to be understood and appreciated through the ensuing disclosurethat these components and their associated sub-components, parts and/orelements are merely illustrative for the purpose of illustrating themanner by which the present disclosure may be performed and may or maynot correspond to actual operating configurations of known devices, andthat other components which are not described herein may be well knownso as to constitute the operating configuration of the device 100arranged to detect and visually represent an impact event.

The device 100 is preferably a portable, handheld and/orbattery-operated electronic device comprising the display 110 of theconfiguration which displays graphical unit interfaces (GUIs) and/orrenders a visual representation of image and/or video signals. Thedevice 100 may be, by way of example and not by way of limitation, amobile phone such as one of the smart-phone models from Samsung™ orApple™ or Nokia™ a tablet computer such as the Samsung™ Galaxy Tab™ orApple™ iPad™, a digital camera such as one of the digital single-lensreflex camera (DLSR) models from Canon™ or Nikon™, a multimedia playersuch as the Apple™ iPod™ or the MP3 player or digital versatile disc(DVD) player, a digital television such as one of the Samsung™ Smart TV™models, a gaming device such as one of the playstation portable (PSP)models from Sony™, and a laptop computer such as one of the laptopmodels which are well known in the art.

These portable devices which may characterize the device 100 may besubjected to impact condition if they fall and/or hit hard surfaces, Itis to be understood and appreciated that the device 100 may also be astationary device such as a desktop computer, a workstation computer, ora supercomputer. While these stationary devices of the related art arenot usually dropped as they are stationary, they may still experienceshock, damage, or fracture causing impact if a hard object such as astapler or a portable electronic device hits them.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the device100 may be any combination of the foregoing devices. In addition, itwill be apparent to one having ordinary skill in the art that a deviceaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure is notlimited to the foregoing devices.

The data processor 102 of the device 100 may be a single processor ormultiple processors which fetch and execute computer-executableinstructions 116 from the memory module 108 containing them. The memorymodule 108 is preferably a main storage device of the device 100 of thepresent disclosure, and may be non-volatile. It is to be understood andappreciated that the memory module 108 may include one or more of thewell-known random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), andelectrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), and the like.

One or more implementations of the device 100 and its associated methodmay be realized by executing the instructions 116 from the memory module108. The instructions 116 may be represented by computer program codeswhich may be written in a variety of suitable programming languages,such as C, C++, C#.NET, Java, Objective-C, Swift, and Visual Basic.

The processor 102 of the device 100 may be selected from one of thewell-known micro-controllers (MCUs) with embedded RAM/ROM,microprocessors (MPUs) not capable of being programmed such as generalpurpose MPUs and/or special purpose MPUs, and application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), programmable MPUs such as reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) and/or related chips sets, complexinstruction set computing (CISC) and/or related chips sets, andprogrammable devices such as complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs),and programmable chips such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).It is preferable that the processor 102 may also comprise any suitablestructure and number of memories for caching purposes.

Integrated into the device 100 and communicatively coupled to theprocessor 102 is the motion sensor system 104. Preferably, although notexclusively, the motion sensor system 104 includes motion sensors suchas an accelerometer 118, a gyroscope 120, and magnetometer 122. Any oneor more of the motion sensors 118, 120, 122 may be electronicallyconnected to the processor 102 of the device 100 through appropriatewire bonding connections or printed flex circuitry connections.

Each of the motion sensors 118, 120, 122 may be strategically situated(e.g., in the middle center of the device 100) and may be fixedlymounted within the primary case, shell, or board of the device 100 usingany suitable attachment mechanism such as adhesive, semi-adhesive,thermal bonding, welding, soldering, friction fitting, pins and/orscrews.

Each of the motion sensors 118, 120, 122 may be low profile sensorswhich can be either mounted on any available surface of a printedcircuit board pre-arranged in the device 100 or directly embedded withinthe same structure. it is preferable that the motions sensors 118, 120,122 may be directly embedded within, or built-in with, such structure soas to improve their resistance against potential adverse effects of theexternal environment and as well as their responsive capacity. Any oneor more of the motion sensors 118, 120, 122 which may constitute themotion sensor system 104 of the device 100 may be hardware-based,software-based, hardware and software-based and/ormicroelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based, depending on the structureand/or configuration of the device 100.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an illustrative implementation ofa motion sensor system of the device of FIG. 1 according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2 in conjunction with the blockdiagram of FIG. 1, the accelerometer 118 may include an accelerometersensor 118-a for sensing and outputting acceleration signals or readingsrepresentative of the motion of the device 100. The accelerometer sensor118-a, when in operation, may generate the accelerometer sensor signalswhich may be measurements representative of magnitude and direction ofacceleration of the device 100 while it is in a flight. In order toensure accuracy of the accelerometer sensor signals, an accelerometercalibration module 118-e may be included in the accelerometer 118 forcalibrating the accelerometer sensor 118-a. The accelerometercalibration module 118-e may be adapted to compensate for, correct, orsubstantially eliminate any potential inherent bias errors of theaccelerometer 118.

As also shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2 in conjunction with theblock diagram of FIG. 1, the gyroscope 120 may include a gyroscopesensor 120-a for sensing and outputting rotation signals or readingsrepresentative of a rotational motion of the device 100. The rotationsignals may be angular rotation signals. The gyroscope sensor 120-a,when in operation, may generate the gyroscope sensor signals which maybe measurements representative of angular velocity or velocity of therotation of the device 100. In order to ensure accuracy of the gyroscopesensor signals, a gyroscope calibration module 120-e may be included inthe gyroscope 120 for calibrating the gyroscope sensor 120-a. Thegyroscope calibration module 120-e may be adapted to compensate for,correct, or substantially eliminate any potential errors of thegyroscope 120 due to drift.

As still shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2 in conjunction with theblock diagram of FIG. 1, the magnetometer 122 may include a magnetometersensor 122-a for sensing and outputting magnetic field signals orreadings representative of a magnetic field of the earth serving as areference point for the rotation signals outputted by the gyroscopesensor 120-a of the gyroscope 120. The magnetometer sensor 122-a, whenin operation, may generate magnetometer sensor signals or readings whichmay be measurements representative of a magnetic field signalsassociated with an axial rotation and/or angular rotation correspondingto a change in an orientation of the device 100. In order to ensureaccuracy of the magnetometer sensor signals, a magnetometer calibrationmodule 122-e may be included in the magnetometer 122 for calibrating themagnetometer sensor 122-a. The magnetometer calibration module 122-e maybe adapted to compensate for, correct, or substantially eliminate anypotential inherent errors of the magnetometer 122 due to drift andinterference by the external environment.

The acceleration sensor 118-a of the accelerometer 118 constituting themotion sensor system 104, alone, may be the minimum required todetermine whether an impact has occurred on the device 100. Thegyroscope and magnetometer sensors 120-a, 122-a of the gyroscope 120 andmagnetometer 122, cooperating with one another, may be the minimumrequired to determine the orientation of the device 100 as and when itexperiences an impact, for example, by hitting the ground or being hitby another object such as a stone, to determine the location of theimpact based on the orientation of the device 100, and to determineseverity of the impact based on the determined location.

It is to be understood and appreciated that other sensors which performsubstantially the same as any one or more of the motion sensors 118,120, 122 and/or which may supplement the impact determination,orientation determination, impact location determination and impactseverity determination can be integrated into the device 100. Theseother sensors may include, by way of example and not by way oflimitation, proximity sensors, pressure sensors, light sensors, ambientlight sensors, displacement sensors, capacitive sensors, hall effectsensors, vibration sensors, sound sensors, strain sensors, temperaturesensors, and moisture sensors.

The acceleration signals outputted by the accelerometer 118, therotation signals or angular rotation signals outputted by the gyroscope120 and the magnetic field signals outputted by the magnetometer 122 maybe stored locally in the accelerometer 118, the gyroscope 120, and themagnetometer 122 if they include storage devices (not illustrated),directly in the memory module 108, or in a network storage device (notillustrated) over any suitable wired or wireless communication networksuch as the Internet.

In one embodiment, the sensor signals 118-c, 120-c, 122-c that may bestored in the respective storage devices of the accelerometer 118,gyroscope 120, and magnetometer 122 can be mirrored in the memory module108. It is now apparent that the acceleration, rotation and magneticfield signals 118-c, 120-c, 122-c sensed by the accelerometer 118,gyroscope 120, and magnetometer 122, respectively, constitute impactparameters which correspond to a motion or a set of motions of thedevice 100 at various points in time. Consequently, the accelerationreadings or signals 118-c, angular rotation readings or signals 120-c,and magnetic field readings or signals 122-c constitute impact parameterinformation which correspond to the sensed impact parameters by themotion sensor system 104.

Simply put, the motion sensor system 104 comprising the accelerometer118, gyroscope 120, and magnetometer 122 are configured to sense theimpact parameters corresponding to the motion of the device 100, and togenerate the impact parameter information associated with the sensedimpact parameters. The instructions 116 contained in the memory module108, which is in communication with each of the processor 102 and themotion sensor system 104, may form at least first and seconddecision-making procedures 116-a, 116-c. It is to be understood andappreciated that the procedures 116-a, 116-c may include routines suchas communication, signaling and control routines.

The first decision-making procedure 116-a may be characterized by impactdetermination procedure and impact location determination procedureand/or method, hereinafter collectively referred to as “impact locationdetermination procedure” for simplicity (as shown in the flow diagram ofFIG. 3). The impact location determination procedure and/or method 116-ais executable by the processor 102 from the memory module 108.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of an illustrative method of detectingand visually representing an impact event according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, at operation 300, the processor-executed impactlocation determination procedure 116-a causes the processor 102. toreceive the impact parameter information from the motion sensor system104. The impact parameter information, i.e., the acceleration, rotationor angular rotation, and magnetic field signals may be stored in thememory module 108 of the device 100, and can be digitally andgraphically represented on the display 110 through the display drivermodule 106 of the device 100.

It may be desired that the impact parameter information transmitted fromthe motion sensor system 104 to the memory module 108 by the processor102 undergo one or more normalization processes, using one or morefilters, by passing through the sensor input processing module 112. Suchfilters may include, by way of example and not by way of limitation,Kalman and Complementary filters.

The sensor input processing module 112 may be used to perform noisereduction and standardize the sensor readings or sensor signals obtainedfrom the accelerometer sensor 118-a of the accelerometer 118, gyroscopesensor 120-a of the gyroscope 120, and magnetometer sensor 122-a of themagnetometer 122, respectively. The sensor input processing module 112may operate or function under the control of the motion sensor system104 and/or under the control of the impact location determinationprocedure 116-a in the memory module 108 through the processor 102 ofthe device 100.

At operation 302, the impact location determination procedure 116-a maycause the processor 102 to determine an impact vector information as afunction of the impact parameter information which may originate fromthe motion sensor system 104, which may pass through the sensor inputprocessing module 112, and which may include fall parameter information.This function may be representative of any one or more relationshipsbetween two or more of the acceleration signals from the accelerometer118. For example, the impact vector information may have or maycorrespond to a value of 20.5 m/s², the detailed illustration of whichis shown in the ensuing graphical and pictorial diagrams.

Prior to determining the impact vector information as the function ofthe impact parameter information, the impact location determinationprocedure 116-a may also be executable by the processor 102 from thememory module 108 to perform the noise reduction operation on theacceleration signals, the rotation signals and the magnetic fieldsignals.

At operation 304, the impact location determination procedure 116-a maycause the processor 102 to perform a comparison of the determined impactvector information with a threshold impact vector information. Thethreshold impact vector information may be any predefined value whichmay correspond to a threshold acceleration information that isindicative of a shock, damage or fracture causing impact. For example,the threshold impact vector information may have or may correspond to avalue of 19.6 m/s², the detailed illustration of which is shown in theensuing graphical and pictorial diagrams.

At operation 306, the impact location determination procedure 116-a maycause the processor 102 to detect whether an impact has occurred basedat least in part on the comparison made in respect of the determinedimpact vector information and the threshold impact vector information.In one embodiment, such impact occurs if and when the determined impactvector information is of equal or higher value as compared with thethreshold impact vector information. In the given examples, the 20.5m/s² value of the impact vector information is higher than the 19.6 m/s²value of the threshold impact vector information. Thus, processor 102may be caused by the impact location determination procedure 116-a todetect and/or establish that an impact has occurred on the device 100.

At operation 308, if the impact has occurred as it appears in the givenexample values of the determined and threshold impact vectorinformation, the impact location determination procedure 116-a may causethe processor 102 to determine an orientation of the device 100 based onthe impact parameter information which may include or correspond to theangular rotation signals from the gyroscope 120 and the magnetic fieldsignals from the magnetometer 122 serving as point of reference for theangular rotational signals from the gyroscope 120.

The impact determination aspect of the impact location determinationprocedure 116-a may use any suitable mathematical methods which areknown in the art for detecting an impact (e.g., due to fall) which takesinto consideration the impact parameter information including themeasurements or sensor readings from the motion sensor system 104. Oneexemplary mathematical method is disclosed in United States PublicationNo. 2016/0054354 published on Feb. 25, 2016 to Invensense, Inc. (USA),the full content of which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety and for all purposes.

At operation 310, the impact location determination procedure 116-a maycause the processor 102 to approximate a location of the impact on thedevice 100 based on the determined orientation of the same device 100.The orientation of the device 100 may be determined and/or approximatedusing the sensor readings from the motion sensor system 104.

At operation 312, the impact location determination procedure 116-a maycause the processor 102 to cause the display driver module 106 todisplay on the display 110 of the device 100 an impact indicatorcorresponding to the approximated location of the impact. The impactindicator may be graphical, textual, tabular, numerical, multimediaaudio and/or video content, animated content, or any suitablecombination thereof.

Information associated with the impact indicator may be pass through thesensor output processing module 114 which may operate or function underthe control of the motion sensor system 104 and/or under the control ofthe impact location determination procedure 116-a in the memory module108 through the processor 102. The sensor output processing module 114may be used to temporarily store the information associated with theimpact indicator and/or indicate or identify the destination address oraddresses to which the same information is set to be transmitted.

For example, the destination address may correspond to the address inany one of the memory module 108, an external storage device, thenetwork storage device, and third-party computer systems such as webservers (not illustrated). These devices and systems other than thememory module 108 may be set to fetch any desired information associatedwith the impact indicator from the device 100. For example, such desiredinformation may include the impact parameter information, time and/ordate information, timer/counter values, sensor data, thresholdcomparison results, impact direction and/or magnitude, fall detectionparameters, impact detection parameters, and the like.

The second decision-making procedure 116-c, which may be a continuationof the first decision-making or impact location determination procedure116-a, may be characterized by impact severity determination procedureand/or method, hereinafter collectively referred to as “impact severitydetermination procedure” for simplicity (as shown in the flow diagram ofFIG. 4). The impact severity determination procedure and/or method 116-cis executable by the processor 102 from the memory module 108.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of a continuation of the method ofFIG. 3 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4, at operation 400, the impact severity determinationprocedure 116-c may cause the processor 102 to generate a quantitativemetric related to the impact which occurred on the determined locationon the device 100. The quantitative metric may be, by way of example andnot by way of limitation, a count of a number of times that the impacthas occurred on the determined location on the device 100, a sum of anumber of times that the impact has occurred on neighboring impactlocations on the device 100, and a sum of a number of times that theimpact has occurred in different locations on the device 100 inaccordance with one predefined area or perimeter on the device 100, ifand whenever an impact event is detected and the process-stepsillustrated in FIG. 3 are iterated for each impact event.

At operation 402, the impact severity determination procedure 116-c maycause the processor 102 to cause the display driver module 106 tomanipulate attributes of the impact indicator based on the generatedquantitative metric which may be, for example, the count of the numberof times that the impact has occurred on the determined location.

At operation 404, the impact severity determination procedure 116-c maycause the processor 102 to generate and display on the display 110recommendation information which are indicative of one or more possibleimpact-affected physical components of the device 100 based on themanipulated attributes of the impact indicator.

The impact location determination procedure 116-a may be executed toprovide historical data that keep track of the number of times that theimpact has occurred on the device 100 while the impact severitydetermination procedure 116-c may be executed to generate therecommendation information which serves as smart suggestions indicatingany impact-affected physical components of the device 100 that should beexamined for possible damages.

The physical components of the device 100 which may be affected by theone or more impact events may include, by way example and not by way oflimitation, the processor 102, the memory module 108, the motion sensorsystem 104, other motion sensor structures, the display 110 which may bea multi-sensing touch display panel or display screen, an externalstorage device such as a secure digital (SD) card or micro SD card, apower button, a back button, a home button, a power circuitry, a resetcircuitry, an audio circuitry, a volume circuitry, a transceivercircuitry, charge and discharge circuitries, a vibration circuitry, aringer circuitry, a cellular circuitry, a global positioning system(GPS) circuitry, a global navigation satellite system (GLONASS)circuitry, a personal communications service (PCS) circuitry, aswitching arrangement such as a compact detection switch, an antenna, amicrophone, a microphone connector, a headphone connector, a speaker, auniversal serial bus (USB) connector, an high-definition multimediainterface (HDMI) connector, a dock connector, a connector slot, astylus/pen slot, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card reader, a cardreader, a short to medium range communication reader such an near fieldcommunication (NFC) reader and a Bluetooth reader, a communicationand/or broadcast module, a user interface (UI) module, a volume control,a front-facing camera, a rear camera, and the like.

Coordinates of the physical locations of the physical components of thedevice 100 may be stored in any suitable database system or in thememory module 108. The impact location or locations that may bedetermined by the impact location determination procedure 116-a may becompared with the physical location of the physical components of thedevice 100 in order to determine which of such components are possiblyaffected by the determined impact in terms of shock, damage and/orfracture.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a display of the device of FIG. 1according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in the block diagram of FIG. 5, the impact indicator maybe a light pattern such as a colored light pattern projected by a lightsource 124 operatively coupled to the display driver module 106. Thedisplay driver module 106 may include a display driver circuitry 126 anda gate driver circuitry 128. The display driver circuitry and the gatedriver circuitry 126, 128 may be generally used to control an operationof an array of display pixels 130 through appropriate control signalsand pulses, and may specifically fill the display pixels 130 withdefault or otherwise inferred pixel values (e.g., red, green, and blue(RGB), or RGB for brevity, pixel values) based on impact indicatordetermined by the impact location and impact severity determinationprocedures 116-a, 116-c executing on the processor 102 from the memorymodule 108.

The light source 124 may be one or both of a set of light emittingelements 132 and light sensitive elements 134. Preferably, the coloredlight pattern projected by any one of the light emitting elements 132and light sensitive elements 134 is adapted to change in color inresponse to the quantitative metric generated by the impact severitydetermination procedure 116-c executing on the processor 102 from thememory module 108. The display driver module 106 may be arranged tooperate the display 110 which may be in the form of, or may include, thelight emitting elements 132 and/or the light sensitive elements 134. Thedisplay 110 may comprise the display pixels 130 which may function toemit or absorb light according to signals and/or pulses generated by thedisplay driver module 106.

The light emitting elements 132 may be light-emitting diodes (LEDs),organic LEDs (OLEDs), flexible LEDs, quantum dot LEDs (QLEDs), flexibleQLEDs, active-matrix OLEDs (AMOLEDs), or super AMOLEDs, and/or may bebased on various thin and flexible light emitting technologies, laserdiodes, and/or other related semiconductor devices which are well knownin the art.

In one embodiment, the display driver module 106 may serve as a sourcefor power supply signals which may include, by way of example and not byway of limitation, low voltage signals, medium voltage signals, highvoltage signals, voltage drop signals, voltage increase signals, and fewor more power supply signals of varying voltage level, amplitude,frequency and amperage.

The display pixels 130 of the display 110 of the device 100 may beoperated under the control of the display driver module 106 based on anyone of the aforementioned power supply signals to cause manipulation ofone or more properties of the impact indicator displayed on the display110 based on the result of the impact severity determination procedure116-c which is illustrated in greater details in FIGS. 1 and 4. Suchproperties may include, by way of example and not by way of limitation,the distribution or the degree of intensity and brightness of the lightemitted by the light emitting elements 132. In one embodiment, a loweror higher quantitative metric or count of the number of occurrence ofimpact on a particular location of a device 100 may enable the displaydriver module 106 to cause the light displayed on the display 110 of thedevice 100 to have higher or otherwise lower intensity and/or brightnesslevel, respectively. For example, the first area 130-a which is depictedto have three impact points or locations may have lower intensity(wherein color may appear faint and/or dull) while the second area 130-cwhich is depicted to have one impact point or location may have higherintensity (wherein hue may appear bright). Further, the third area 130-ewhich is depicted to have no impact point or location may have a balancelevel of intensity and/or brightness.

The light sensitive elements 134 may be colorimetric and/orspectrophotometric light sensitive elements 134 which may be arranged tohave a form factor of a light sensor or a colorimeter operativelycoupled to the device 100 and generally configured to gather the lightemitted by the light emitting elements 132 of the device 100. Thecolorimetric and/or spectrophotometric light sensitive elements 134 maybe utilized for gathering colored light and may be arranged tocorrespond to the array of colored display pixels 130 in the display 110of the device 100.

In one embodiment, the display 110 having the RGB display pixels 130 maybe calibrated to produce a multi-colored light pattern comprisinggradients of green, yellow and red based on the RGB colorimetric and/orspectrophotometric light sensitive elements 134. For example, the firstarea 130-a which is depicted to have three impact points or locationsmay have gradients of red while the second area 130-c which is depictedto have one impact point or location may have gradients of yellow.Further, the third area 130-e which is depicted to have no impact pointor location may have gradients of green.

Alternatively, and in another embodiment, the light sensitive elements134 may be arranged to generate various intensities (e.g., R_(max),G_(max), B_(max)) of a spectrum of light colors and directly correspondto the display pixels 130 of the display 110 thereby rendering thevarious intensities of the light colors comprising the gradients ofgreen, yellow and red directly on the display pixels 130 of the display110 or, simply put, filling the display 110 of the device 100 with pixelvalues which form colored light pattern and/or designs in accordancewith the various intensities of the full spectrum of light colors.

It is to be understood and appreciated that the above arrangements fordisplaying on the display 110 of the device 100 the colored lightpattern corresponding to, representative of and/or serving as the impactindicator are merely illustrative and not exclusive. For example, thedisplay pixels 130 of the display 110 of the device 100 may includeindividual pixels 130 having colors other than the aforementioned red,green and blue.

In another example, the colorimetric and/or spectrophotometric lightsensitive elements 134 may include tools or mechanisms for accuratelygenerating and redirecting different colors, or frequencies, of lightonto different regions of the display pixels 130 of the display 110 ofthe device 100 based on the result of the impact severity determinationprocedure 116-c which is illustrated in greater details in FIGS. 1 and4, wherein the display driver module 106 is caused by theprocessor-executing impact severity determination procedure 116-c tomanipulate the attributes (e.g., the intensities) of the impactindicator (i.e., the colored light pattern) based on the generatedquantitative metric (e.g., the count of the number of times the impacthas occurred on a particular location or area in the device 100).

It is to be understood and appreciated that the three-colored lightpattern may have any number of different colors including or excludingany of the green, yellow and red, and that the gradation characteristicsof the impact indicator may not be based solely on the colored lightpattern but, as an alternative, also on any one of gray scale,monochrome, or black and white pixel values if and whenever applicableand appropriate, for example, in cases where the device 100 hascomputational resources such as processing and memory resources whichare too limited to produce colored graphics or where the display 110 ofthe device 100 is inherently not capable of producing colored lightgraphics. In one instance, some cameras and music players are inherentlyconfigured to display monochrome graphics at a low resolution.

It is also to be understood and appreciated that the impact indicatormay also be in the form of a graphically represented pictorial imagecorresponding, for example, to the count of impact occurrence on thedevice 100. For example, if the count has a higher value (e.g., 8counts), then the pictorial image may be a dark red warning sign anexclamation point inside a yellow or red triangle). Correspondingly, ifthe count has a lower value (e.g., 1 count), then the pictorial imagemay be a light green “check” sign, “OK” sign, “thumbs up” sign, “OK handsignal” sign, a “heart” sign, or the like. Another possible graphicalrepresentation which may correspond to the impact indicator is full barof any suitable configurations that may be arranged to decrease in sizeas the count of the impact occurrence on the device 100 increases.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of a computer-implemented processaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring now to the flow diagram of FIG. 6 which illustrates acomputer-implemented impact monitoring process associated with themethod and device 100 of the present disclosure. With more particularityand greater details, the impact monitoring process illustrated in FIG. 5combines the impact location determination and impact severitydetermination procedures 116-a, 116-c which are partly illustrated inFIGS. 3 and 4, respectively. It is to be understood and appreciated thatimpact monitoring process may be adjusted so that it may be compatiblewith the device 100 and depending on the framework of the device 100.

The impact monitoring process combining, in whole or in part, the impactlocation determination and impact severity determination procedures116-a, 116-c may be logically executed as an application program whichmay be tangibly embodied on a program memory or computer-readable mediumor on the memory module 108 of, or may be uploaded to, and executed by,the device 100 or any such other computer platform of any suitablearchitecture. Preferably, this impact monitoring process is executedthrough the hardware and software components of the device 100 asillustrated in greater details in FIGS. 1 and 2.

At operation 600, the impact monitoring process is arranged to alwaysmonitor the device 100 in order to gather the data needed to analyze anychanges in the state of the device 100, wherein the accelerometer data,the gyroscope data and the magnetometer data are collected for lateranalysis if and whenever needed.

The accelerometer data may originate from the accelerometer 118 whichmeasures the acceleration (gravitational force inclusive) of the device100 towards or in the direction of the X, Y and Z axes. For example, thedevice 100 at rest on a surface should have a gravitational forcestraight upwards (z=9.8 m/s²). In contrast, if the device 100 isexperiencing a free fall, all axes have an acceleration of zero (“0”).The accelerometer may be arranged to detect the free fall of, and alsoimpact on, the device 100. The gyroscope data may originate from thegyroscope 120 which measures the velocity of the rotation of the device100 relative to the X, Y and Z axes. The magnetometer data may originatefrom the magnetometer 122 which provides the direction of the earth'snorth pole, effectively providing the device 100 with a reference pointor frame of reference for the readings of the gyroscope 120 of themotion sensor system 104.

Combining the accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer data provides areliable result in determining the orientation of the device 100. TheX-axis determines the angle of rotation of the device 100 with respectto X position or horizontally, the Y-axis determines the angle ofrotation with respect of Y position or vertically (as shown in thepictorial diagram of FIG. 7A illustrating X and Y axes rotationrepresentations of the device 100), and the Z-axis determines the angleof rotation with respect to the north pole reading of the magnetometer122 (as shown in the pictorial diagrams of FIGS. 7B and 7C illustratingZ-axis rotation representations of the device 100). Generally, thedevice 100 and the associated method consistent with the presentdisclosure may be arranged to determine the estimated area of damage,shock, or fracture received by the device 100 after incurring an impactfrom falling.

FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C are pictorial diagrams showing a multi-axis motionof the device of FIG. 1 according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

At decision operation 602, if the magnitude resultant of theaccelerometer, computed as R=√x²+y²+z² (wherein “R” may correspond tothe impact vector information generated by executing the impact locationdetermination procedure 116-a) is equal or close to zero (“0”), theimpact monitoring process may be arranged to change the state of thedevice to “free fall.” The reason for this condition is that theaccelerometer's data are already inclusive of gravitational force andthis force turns to zero (“0”) if free fall is being experienced by thedevice 100. Otherwise, the impact monitoring process may move back tothe previous operation 600 wherein the motion sensors 118, 120, 122 aremonitored.

At operation 604, once it has been detected that the device 100 isundergoing free fall, the sensor data (i.e., the acceleration data, theangular rotation data, and the magnetic field data) may be stored, forexample, in the memory module 108 until the device 100 has beenstabilized. Alternatively, the sensor data may be stored in therespective memories of the accelerometer 118, gyroscope 120, andmagnetometer 122 of the motion sensor system 104, if available.

At decision operation 606, to determine if the device 100 has stabilizedor is in a stabilized state, the magnitude of accelerometer values maybe checked, using the formula R=√x²+y²+z², and may be approximatelyequal to the force of acceleration induced by earth's gravity for 2seconds. Otherwise, the impact monitoring process may move back to theprevious operation 604. The accelerometer 118 at rest on the surface ofthe Earth may measure an acceleration of g=9.8 m/s². If the device 100is at rest (i.e., facing up), the axes' values may be x=0, y=0, andz=9.8 m/s². With these values, the device 100 and the associated methodconsistent with the present disclosure may provide a resultant ofR=√0²+0²+(9.8 m/s²)²=9.8 m/s² which effectively corresponds to sensorfusion data. If the resultant “R” is approximately equal to theacceleration caused by the force of gravity, the device 100 and theassociated method consistent with the disclosure may change the state ofthe same device 100 to the stabilized state.

At operation 608, the stored sensor data may be analyzed and any one ormore changes in trends may be promptly recorded as and when the device100 is detected to have changed from “free fall” state to “stable”state. Switching between these two states depends on the point in timewhen the device 100 experiences free fall and stabilization. Graphicalrepresentations of these analyses and trends may be represented on thedisplay 110 of the device 100 upon user's request, and may also beexported into any suitable document of various file types which can bestored in any memory or transmitted to third-party server computersystems for later reading or consumption.

At decision operation 610, impact events may be searched throughout thestored sensor data or values and may be checked if the magnitude of theacceleration R=√x²+y²+z² is approximately equal or greater than 2g. Eachimpact point e., impact detection and/or determination) may beconsidered to have taken place after a period of free fall has occurred.

While no impact point is detected at the decision operation 610, theimpact monitoring process may proceed to another decision operation 612wherein the device 100 has reached the stable state. if the device 100has reached the stable state, the impact monitoring process may moveback to the previous operation 600 wherein the motion sensors 118-a,120-a, 122-a are monitored. Otherwise, while the device 100 is notreaching the stable state, the process may move back to the previousoperation 608 wherein the sensor data from free fall to stable state areanalyzed. As it now becomes apparent, there may be a loop formed atleast between the operation 608 and the decision operation 612 while noimpact point is detected and while the device 100 is not yet reachingthe stable state.

By utilizing all the data from the accelerometer, gyroscope andmagnetometer sensors 118-a, 120-a, 122-a, the actual orientation of thedevice 100 can be derived, as shown in operation 614-a. This works byconsidering the relationships of the motion sensors 118-a, 120-a, 122-a,or more specifically the sensor data relative to one another and as wellas the environment around the motion sensor system 104 and the device100. Given the gravity vector provided by the accelerometer 118 and themagnetic north, i.e., in accordance with the magnetic field signals,pointed to by the magnetometer 122, the orientation of the device 100can be determined and/or approximated.

The accuracy of this orientation determination can be improved byintegrating the angular rotation over time signals determined by thegyroscope 120, as shown in operation 614-c and factoring this into theequation or any another suitable mathematical methods which are wellknown in the art. By comparing and filtering the data from the threemotion sensors 118-a, 120-a, 122-a, calculation errors may be minimizedand the actual orientation of the device 100 can be correctly andprecisely determined. Sample accelerometer data (i.e., one of the impactparameter information) and computer-generated resultant data (i.e., theimpact vector information for comparison with any predeterminedthreshold impact vector information) on the three-dimension axes, X, Yand Z, are presented in the graphical diagrams of FIGS. 8A and 8B,respectively, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are graphical diagrams of sample accelerometer data andsample resultant data according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

The determinations of the impact occurrence (i.e., as indicated by theimpact point) at the decision operation 610, the device orientation atthe operation 614-a, and angular velocity at the operation 614-c maycause the process to progress to operation 616 wherein location of theimpact on the device 100 is determined and/or approximated, wherein theimpact location is indicative of affected, damaged, shocked, orfractured area. In estimating or approximating the impact location,adjacent impact points may be compared. The estimated damaged area maybe determined using initial position to next position and the initialangular velocity value to next angular velocity value associated withthe motion of the device 100. All the impact points may be stored by thedevice 100 and the associated method consistent with the presentdisclosure and these points may be compared with one another todetermine the rotation of the device 100.

FIG. 9 is a graphical diagram of sample sensor fusion data andaccelerometer data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are pictorial diagrams showing a representative motionof the device of FIG. 1 in accordance with the graphical diagram of FIG.9 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Based on time 3-12 of the graphical diagram of FIG. 9, the device 100 isdepicted to be at rest and tilted. At time 13-22, the device 100 isdepicted to be experiencing free fall because the impact vectorinformation “R” is approximately zero (“0”). At time 23-26, the impactvector information (“R”) is depicted to have exceeded the value of thethreshold impact vector information (T=2g). As a result, the device 100may experience an impact which may cause shock, damage or fracture onits external and/or internal parts. The device 100 and the associatedmethod consistent with the disclosure may be arranged to record thecurrent orientation, as depicted by the graphical diagram of FIG. 9 andpictorial diagrams of FIGS. 10A and 10B. The disclosure may then assumeand/or approximate that the impact location indicative of the damagedarea is the part of the device 100 that is nearest to the ground.

At time 27-29, the device 100 is depicted to have experienced a freefall again. During this time (i.e., 27-29), the orientation changes asdepicted in the graphical diagrams of FIGS. 9 and 11. If the impactlocation indicative of the shocked, damaged or fractured area increasesits height, i.e., relative to the ground, the device 100 and theassociated method consistent with the present disclosure may be arrangedto confirm that the previous assumption and/or approximation is correct.Otherwise, the impact location indicative of the shocked, damaged orfractured area may be on the opposite side of the device 100.

FIG. 11 is a graphical diagram of another sample sensor fusion data andaccelerometer data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are pictorial diagrams showing another representativemotion of the device of FIG. 1 in accordance with the graphical diagramof FIG. 11 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a graphical diagram of yet another sample sensor fusion dataand accelerometer data according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Based on the time 30-38 as presented in the graphical diagram of FIG.11, the device 100 is depicted to have experienced an impact once againand is consequently tilted presented in the pictorial diagrams of FIGS.12A and 12B. Afterwards, the device 100 is depicted to have experienceda free fall during time 39-42. During this time, i.e., 39-42, the device100 is depicted to have experienced once again a change in orientation.Consequently, the device 100 and the associated method consistent withpresent disclosure may assume and/or approximate a new impact locationindicative of the shocked, damaged or fractured area, which, again, maybe the part of the device 100 that is nearest to the ground. Thisassumption and/or approximation may then be confirmed since at time42-61 as presented in the graphical diagram of FIG. 13. the impactlocation indicative of the shocked, damaged or fractured area isdepicted to have risen up.

Based on time 42-61 as presented in the graphical diagram of FIG. 13,the device 100 is depicted to have experienced damage causing impactsince the impact vector information (“R”) is depicted to have exceededthe threshold impact vector information. The device 100 and theassociated method consistent with the present disclosure may assume thatthe impact location indicative of the shocked, damaged or fractured areais the part of the device 100 that is nearest to the ground. At time62-76 the device 100 is depicted to be at rest as presented in thepictorial diagram of FIGS. 14A and 14B.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are pictorial diagrams showing yet anotherrepresentative motion of the device of FIG. 1 in accordance with thegraphical diagram of FIG. 13 according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

At operation 618, the derived, estimated and/or approximated impactlocation indicative of the shocked, damaged or fractured area may beupdated by incrementing the impact count in the respective shocked,damaged or fractured area for the total damage severity estimationand/or approximation.

FIG. 15 illustrates a pictorial diagram of a display of the device ofFIG. 1 showing a preferred user interface made according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

As now presented in the pictorial diagram of FIG. 15, the colored lightpattern corresponding to the impact indicator displayable on thedisplay, or the display unit 110, of the device 100 may include colorsrepresentative of gradients of green, yellow and red depicted inincreasing severity. For example, the red color may represent a “severeimpact” event, the yellow color may represent a “moderate impact” event,and the green color may represent a “no impact” event. The green to redgradient is preferably used to represent low to high degree or severityof impact (i.e., from “no impact” event to “severe impact” event) onvarious approximated locations of impact on the device 100. In essence,the impact indicator serves as a preview of impact events.

In particular, the colored light pattern on the display 110 may start asgreen, indicating that the device 100 is in full health and that nodamage-causing impact is recorded by the disclosure yet. Meanwhile,areas that have yellow light pattern on the display 110 may indicatethat the corresponding part or hardware portion of the device 100 hastaken light or a few instances or count of impact which, in turn, may beindicative of a possibility of slight to moderate damage. Finally, areasthat have red light pattern on the display 110 may indicate that thecorresponding part or hardware portion of the device 100 has takensevere or repeated instances or count of impact which, in turn, may beindicate of a possibility of severe or irreparable damage.

With the visual representation of impacts incurred on the device 100,users can estimate the frequency and intensity of the times they drop orhit their devices. A screen of impact logs may be arranged inconjunction with the present disclosure to display the total number ofall impact events incurred on the device 100 and to contain a list viewof the dates and times of each impact event. These information, alongwith other pertinent impact-related information, may be arranged to beaccessible to users from the display 110 displaying a damage monitoringinterface through any command associated with a touch button, a keypress, a widget, a gesture, a voice, a head-motion, biometricinformation, a digital signature, or any such other input and/orauthentication mechanisms which are well known in the art. According toanother embodiment, the display 110 may display a damage monitoringinterface right after the free fall occurs. The display 110 may displaya damage monitoring interface when the device 100 is determined to reachthe stable state after the impact occurs.

FIGS. 16A, 16B, 16C, and 16D illustrate pictorial diagrams of a displayof the device of FIG. 1 showing another preferred user interfaces madeaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

To aid diagnosis of the health of the device 100, an impact reportscreen may be arranged to display possible damages caused to internaland/or external hardware parts based on the impact events, as presentedin the pictorial diagrams of FIGS. 16A, 16B, 16C, and 16D. A pop-upscreen with the details of the report for a particular area may bearranged to be shown through different gestures on the area of impactlocations represented by gradients of green, yellow and red withincreasing impact severity. The hardware health or status of the device100 may also be graphically or textually represented on the “aboutdevice” section of the “settings” menu on its display or interface 110.As illustrated in FIG. 16D, the device 100 may display possible damagescaused to internal and/or external hardware parts on the display screenwith different colors according to the impact severity. According to anembodiment, when a right-upper side of the device 100 has impacted, thedevice 100 may display internal/external hardwares possibly damaged bythe impact (e.g., front camera, power button and front speaker) withdifferent colors. Red color may represent ‘serious’ impact and yellowcolor may represent ‘moderate’ impact.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the device100 may perform self-verification on the internal/external hardwareswhich are expected to be damaged according to the estimated impact area.The self-verification may be performed through any command associatedwith a touch button, a key press, a widget, a gesture, a voice, ahead-motion, biometric information, a digital signature, or any suchother input and/or authentication mechanisms which are well known in theart. If the internal/external hardwares operate normally, it can beshown that the internal/external hardwares are OK through the display110. If the internal/external hardwares operate abnormally, theinternal/external hardwares which are damaged can be displayed throughthe display 110 or a warning message to visit a service center to checkthe hardwares more precisely can be displayed.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of a method for representing an impact eventon an electronic device according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. For example, the electronic device may comprise the device100 of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 17, at operation 1701, the device 100 measures atleast one physical value corresponding to a movement of the device 100,using at least one sensor. For example, at least one sensor may compriseat least one of an accelerometer sensor, a gyroscope sensor and amagnetometer. At least one physical value may comprise at least one ofan acceleration value, a rotation value or a magnetic field value.According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, at least onephysical value may comprise at least one quantitative parametercalculated based on at least one of the accelerometer sensor data, thegyroscope sensor data and the magnetometer sensor data.

At operation 1703, in response to detecting an impact occurred on thedevice 100, the device 100 determines at least one of a location of theimpact on the device 100 or a degree of the impact, based on the atleast one physical value. According to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the device 100 may determine whether the impact is occurredon the device 100 by comparing the at least one physical value with apredetermined threshold. The predetermined threshold may be twice thegravitational acceleration (2g). According to another embodiment of thepresent disclosure, the device 100 may determine an orientation of theelectronic device by analyzing the at least one physical value. Thedevice 100 may determine the location of the impact based on thedetermined orientation. Then, the device 100 may determine the degree ofthe impact and an area of the impact on the electronic device, based onthe at least one physical value and a distance from the location ofimpact.

At operation 1705, the device 100 displays at least one of the locationof the impact or the degree of the impact. According to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure, the device 100 the device 100 may display thelocation of the impact and the degree of the impact through the display110. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, thedevice 100 may display estimated information indicative of at least oneimpact-affected physical component of the device 100, based on thelocation of the impact and the degree of the impact. The device 100 maydisplay the location of the impact on the device 100 with a colorindicator and the color indicator may comprise a color that is differentaccording to the degree of the impact. The color indicator may comprisea light pattern projected by a light source operatively coupled to thedisplay 110, and the light pattern may be adapted to change in coloraccording to the degree of the impact.

It is to be understood and appreciated that the herein described modulesare merely presented in segregated format based on their intendedfunctions for the sake of illustrating how they are relevant toimplementations and/or embodiments of the device and associated methodof the present disclosure. The herein described modules are merelyillustrative and can be fewer or greater in number, as it is well knownin the art of computing that such program codes representing variousfunctions of different modules can be combined or segregated in anysuitable but efficient manner insofar as software execution isconcerned.

While the present disclosure has been shown and described with referenceto various embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure asdefined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device for representing an impactevent, the electronic device comprising; at least one processor; atleast one sensor communicatively coupled to the at least one processor;and a display operatively coupled to the at least one processor, whereinthe at least one sensor is configured to measure at least one physicalvalue corresponding to a movement of the electronic device, wherein theat least one processor is configured to, in response to detecting animpact occurred on the electronic device, determine at least one of alocation of the impact on the electronic device or a degree of theimpact, based on the at least one physical value, and wherein thedisplay is configured to display the at least one of the location of theimpact or the degree of the impact.
 2. The electronic device of claim 1,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determinewhether the impact has occurred on the electronic device by comparingthe at least one physical value with a predetermined threshold.
 3. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to: determine an orientation of the electronic deviceby analyzing the at least one physical value; determine the location ofthe impact based on the determined orientation; and determine the degreeof the impact and an area of the impact on the electronic device, basedon the at least one physical value and a distance from the location ofimpact.
 4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the display isfurther configured to display estimated information indicative of one ormore impact-affected physical components of the electronic device basedon the location of the impact and the degree of the impact.
 5. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprisesat least one of an accelerometer sensor, a gyroscope sensor or amagnetometer.
 6. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the at leastone physical value comprises at least one of an acceleration value, arotation value or a magnetic field value.
 7. The electronic device ofclaim 1, wherein the display is configured to display the location ofthe impact on the electronic device with a color indicator, and whereinthe color indicator comprises a color that is different according to thedegree of the impact.
 8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein thecolor indicator comprises a light pattern projected by a light sourceoperatively coupled to the display.
 9. The electronic device of claim 8,wherein the light pattern is adapted to change in color according to thedegree of the impact.
 10. A method for representing an impact event onan electronic device, the method comprising: measuring at least onephysical value corresponding to a movement of the electronic device,using at least one sensor; in response to detecting an impact occurredon the electronic device, determining at least one of a location of theimpact on the electronic device or a degree of the impact, based on theat least one physical value; and displaying the at least one of thelocation of the impact or the degree of the impact.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the detecting of the impact comprises determiningwhether the impact has occurred on the electronic device by comparingthe at least one physical value with a predetermined threshold.
 12. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the determining of the at least one of thelocation of the impact or the degree of the impact comprises:determining an orientation of the electronic device by analyzing the atleast one physical value; determining the location of the impact basedon the determined orientation; and determining the degree of the impactand an area of the impact on the electronic device, based on the atleast one physical value and a distance from the location of impact. 13.The method of claim 10, wherein the displaying of the location of theimpact and the degree of the impact comprises displaying estimatedinformation indicative of at least one impact-affected physicalcomponent of the electronic device based on the location of the impactand the degree of the impact.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein the atleast one sensor comprises at least one of an accelerometer sensor, agyroscope sensor or a magnetometer.
 15. The method of claim 14, whereinthe at least one physical value comprises at least one of anacceleration value, a rotation value or a magnetic field value.
 16. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the displaying of the location of the impactand the degree of the impact comprises displaying the location of theimpact on the electronic device with a color indicator, and wherein thecolor indicator comprises color that is different according to thedegree of the impact.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the colorindicator comprises a light pattern projected by a light sourceoperatively coupled to a display.
 18. The method of claim 17, whereinthe light pattern is adapted to change in color according to the degreeof the impact.
 19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprisingcomputer executable instructions that when executed by a processor of anelectronic device cause the processor to effectuate a method comprising:measuring at least one physical value corresponding to a movement of theelectronic device, using at least one sensor; in response to detectingan impact occurred on the electronic device, determining at least one ofa location of the impact on the electronic device or a degree of theimpact, based on the at least one physical value; and displaying the atleast one of the location of the impact or the degree of the impact. 20.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein thedetecting of the impact comprises determining whether the impact isoccurred on the electronic device by comparing the at least one physicalvalue with a predetermined threshold.